As we educate our patients about some differences in how lower back strength can present, another question that we get asked often is how to build lower back strength.
This is a difficult question to have just an immediate response for, as it depends on the individual.
- Is your goal to survive the rigors that a desk job can impact upon us?
- Are you involved in a specific sport that has certain demands?
- Are you a seasoned power lifter seeking that new personal best on a sumo deadlift?
You can see the answer would be very different depending on your individual circumstances.
Building lower back strength is absolutely important to prevent their problems from happening again. That being said, “lower back strength” is important to define correctly.
Really, your aim is to teach your back how to become – and stay – stable. If you think about a day in terms of movement, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of small changes in our positioning. If most of these positions are performed poorly, they may lead to problems.
Stability can be defined as the ability to resist movement. For instance, when we lift something off the floor, does our back remain unchanged in its position as the rest of the body moves through it to create lift? Does your back look like a tabletop or a sad banana when attempting to lift your grocery bags off the floor of your car? If your back is bent forward, it’s unstable and open to additional and normally unwelcome stress.
The best definition of strength, therefore, lies in the ability to learn how to resist these movements. Through resistance we build durability, and durability makes our back less sensitive.
Are you able to do this without wobbling? Can you keep your back flat while performing? Do your hips shift from side to side drastically? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may need to get on a short period of exercises to learn how to move better in your day-to-day activity. At our office, we strive to educate people on how to move with better purpose through their day. If you feel like a program like this would be helpful for you, feel free to give us a call and set up an appointment.
